Japanese Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Monday, reversing some of the sharp gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 67,850 level, with weakness in exporter and technology stocks partially offset gains in financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 728.55 points or 1.06 percent at 67,829.18, after hitting a low of 67,758.32 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.1 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.5 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging up 0.2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is adding almost 2 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 2 percent, Canon is down almost 1 percent, Panasonic is edging down 0.2 percent and Sony is declining more than 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Yaskawa Electric is tumbling more than 14 percent, Taiyo Yuden is sliding almost 10 percent and Kioxia Holdings is slipping more than 6 percent, while Renesas Electronics, TDK and Minebea Mitsumi are declining almost 4 percent each. Chubu Electric Power, Ibiden and Omron are losing more than 3 percent each, while Chugai Pharmaceutical, Mitsui Kinzoku, Murata Manufacturing, Kajima and NGK are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Ryohin Keikaku is soaring more than 15 percent, while Lasertec and Mitsubishi Motors are advancing more than 4 percent each. Sumco is gaining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 162 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction early in the session on Friday but moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day. The major averages all moved to the upside, although buying interest remained relatively subdued.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the end of the day but still posted modest gains. The Dow rose 149.60 points or 0.3 percent to 52,637.01, the Nasdaq increased 74.72 points or 0.3 percent to 26,281.61 and the S&P 500 climbed 31.75 points or 0.4 percent to 7,575.39.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both rose by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Friday, thanks to efforts by third-party mediators to bring the U.S. and Iran back to the negotiating table. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was down $0.75 or 1.04 percent at $71.33 per barrel.